Panama papers

referred it to ED for further investigation. Apart from the RBI, the income tax (IT) department, too, has referred several cases to the ED for investigation,” said official sources. In May, the RBI had sought yearwise details from banks on outward remittances under the LRS, of individuals whose names figure in the Panama Papers. Under the current LRS, a resident Indian can freely remit$250,000overseaseveryfinancialyear for a permissible set of current or capital account transactions.

The Panama Papers is an ongoing investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), involving more than 100 media organisations including The Indian Express, into leaked data of offshore entities set up for clients by Mossack Fonseca.

The Indian Express investigation unearthed the names of over 500 Indians on the firm’s list of offshore companies, foundations and trusts — there are also 234 Indian passports that were handed over by clients as part of the incorporation process. After The Indian Express published the list of names, the Income Tax department sent queries to several individuals as a part of its investigation.

Subsequently, the government announced a special multi-agency probe to look into all cases of Indians with offshore entities in tax havens. The RBI is part of the multi-agency group. Several Indians named inthepanamapapershaveclaimedthatthe offshore accounts they set up via Mossack Fonseca conform to RBI rules and were declared to the I-T department.